La Vie en Rose
by Cow as White as Milk
Summary: Greg and Nick lose someone very close to them. Prequel to 'The Broken Heart'. character death
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Greg and Nick lose someone very close to them. Prequel to 'The Broken Heart'.

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI or SPD.

A/N: Yes, people... This is a prequel to a crossover with Power Rangers: Space Patrol Delta. Please givethem botha chance. I am very pleased with how both fictions have come out so far. You do not have to watch either show to understand the plot.

* * *

Sara Sanders glanced up from her paperwork to see her husband of eighteen years walk into the break room and make a beeline for his infamous Blue Hawaiian coffee. He had made her so happy throughout the years, even more happy than she had even thought to give him credit for. If someone would have told her that she would be married to him twenty years ago, she would have laughed in their face.

She knew that he had always been attracted to her, especially when he tried to hide it behind his goofy antics and sexual innuendoes. At first she had found it annoying and humorous all at the same time. Then she started to crave them. She would walk into his lab just to bug him all the while hoping that he might make some comment to put her at ease. She didn't know when or how, but soon she realized that she had become addicted to Greg.

It wasn't until he was promoted that her feeling began to change. Upon his becoming a CSI he was usually assigned to work under her. Not that she minded, after all their working conditions made it really easy to start noticing things about him that she would have usually overlooked. It took two years of working over him to recognize her true feelings for him.

Never once did they go on a date or have a romantic relationship, but when he suddenly asked her to marry him, she knew that she would have been a fool to say no. Shaking her head, the sound of their beepers drew her out of her memories.

_CSI_

Greg glanced up from his work. It had already been a long night and it was only bound to get longer. The case was a big one. At least big enough to warrant having two teams. His eyes wondered over the scene before him, hoping to find something he missed. Instead they landed on Sara and Nick who were discussing something or other.

By now, the three of them were the only ones left at the Las Vegas Crime Lab that hailed from the time he had been promoted. The others had either been moved up and out, or moved on completely. It didn't seem to hinder the relationship of the old team, after all they were all still really close.

Greg watched as Sara glanced over to give him a smile. The same smile he had fallen for the first time he met. It had stunned him then, and it stunned him now. So much that he didn't even register that a shot had been fired.

_CSI_

Time seemed to stop completely for Nick. He had heard the shot and felt the warm spray hit his face before realizing that she had been hit. She slumped on to him forcing his arms to react before she hit the ground. Glancing up, he saw Greg kneeling next to a plaster he had just cast watching the scene before him in shock. The look on his face was enough to set the middle aged Texan's heart on fire. Looking down, his eyes began to tear.

"Sara," he said in a broken voice. "Don't go."

She opened her eyes to search his. "Tell him," she whispered. "He made my life beautiful."

Nick was shaking his head as she went dead weight in his arms. "Sara don't."

By this time, Greg had come out of his stupor to rush over to where a small crowd had gathered and was pushing his way through to see his best friend cradling his wife. Her eyes had just closed and in a barely audible whisper she said. "Tell him, I love him."

Nick glanced up at Greg who had knelt and grasped her hand repeating one word over and over with twin streams flowing down his face as sirens could be heard in the distance.

"No."


	2. Chapter 2

Nick shifted nervously in his office as he waited for CSI Sanders to arrive. The last eleven months had been hell on him so much that his hair had turned white within a month after Sara's loss. He had loved her like a sister and to know that he would never see her again tore at him. He wanted so much for her to flash him her famous gap toothed grin just once more. Running his fingers through his silver strands, he contemplated on what this year meant to him. He couldn't deny that it had made him stronger,hisbest friendhad needed him as an anchor. That fateful night was the last time anyone ever saw him cry. It was the last night he had allowed himself to.

To feel her life drain away as he held her was truly the most horrible thing he had ever felt. Even being buried alive would be more appealing to him now that he thought back on it. Better him than her. It may have sounded morbid, comparing her loss to a horror once inflicted on him, but he didn't care. He would go through it all again; the claustrophobia, the fire ants, everything, if only to see her walk into the lab.

She was always so proud and strong but on the inside she held vulnerabilities that only her closest friends new about. It was only after she was gone that the true stories behind Sara came to the open. Stories thatshe had only shared with a select few. The old group sat for what seemed like hours telling stories about her that seemed to be forgotten skeletons in front of the Sanders' fireplace. Grissom had told them about everything she had said about her past experiences with her family. Catherine supplied a couple of stories about a couple of her romances that ended with her in tears. Warrick had them laughing at a few of his most embarrassing moments with her. Nick had even regaled them with anecdotes from a couple of their shared cases, including the one time she lost her lunch over smelling a decomp's jacket.

Nick shook his head. Greg had stayed silent the entire night. He didn't even say goodbye to his friends when they left. Even to this day, Nick had yet to see the man smile. The door opened and the object of his thoughts walked in. "Greggo, this came in the snail mail for you, it's from the hospital," he said as he handed him an envelope.

CSI

Gregg took it and nodded. He wasn't surprised that he'd get personal mail at the lab. After all it had become his home since... He just didn't like having to face his house without her. He would go there to sleep and that was it. In fact, the bed was the only furniture there that wasn't covered in a sheet.

"Thank you," He replied and turned to head out but stopped at the sound of Nick's voice.

"Greg, meet me here after shift."

Greg frowned. "Why?"

"Dinner is on me."

"Okay," he said with a solute of the letter before walking out of the office and heading to the break room. Once there he sat on the couch and stared at the envelope. It was indeed addressed to him. Shrugging, he used a pocket knife to rip it open. And pulled out the card within.

_Dear Whomever,_

_First I want to extend my deepest sympathies towards you and your loss. Please understand, I mean no disrespect in writing you. I have no idea who you are or even where you are, but I wanted to thank you all the same. You see, it was because of your loss that my life was spared. I wasn't told much about the donor that saved my life, but I was told that she had it in her heart to stop crime. So do I, there have been many lives saved do to your sacrifice. I felt as if I owed it to you to tell you that there is a part of your loved one that still lives on._

_Respectfully yours._

Greg carefully folded up the note and tucked it away in his jacked. Wiping a stray tear from his face, he went back to work.


End file.
